Presented to the Internet Study on Wednesday, March 21, 2007.

Blogs and Blogging

Blogs
- Short for weblog
- Online diary or journal
- Interactive - readers can post follow-up comments
- Simple to use and update
- Multiple free and paid blogging services available (See our Internet Study page for a brief list)
- RSS = Really Simple Syndication - Your readers can "subscribe" to your blog's feed and have your content delivered to their feed reader
  - Google Reader
  - Netvibes
- Web-based! You don't have to be on a particular computer or in a particular place to access and update your blog.
- Take a look at the blog I've set up for this Internet Study
  - Read posts
  - Comment on posts
  - Change template
Simple process of creating a blog in Blogger
Want one? Sign up for a FREE Gmail account and gain access to all things Google, including
- Blogger - Google's free blogging service
- Gmail - free, reliable web-based (or POP) email with over 2 GB of storage
- Google Reader - RSS feed reader (now that you know what that is!)
- Google Calendar - Free online calendaring that you can access from ANY computer!
- Google Docs & Spreadsheets - online word processing and basic spreadsheet functionality
- Google Notebook - powerful, browser-based research tool
Not excited about Blogger? Check out the Resources page for a few more options.

Wikis

Wiki
- Wiki = Hawaiian word for fast
- "Online whiteboard"
- Multiple users can add or edit content
- Collaborative
- Multiple free and paid wiki services - this wiki is hosted FOR FREE on Wikispaces
- Updating and editing is as simple as using MS Word - maybe simpler!
- Check out the sample wiki I set up for this session
- Web-based! Think of something to add to a lesson when you're at the in-law's? Sneak off to the nearest computer and fire up a Web-browser to update and make changes

What about eChalk?

As I see it, eChalk, blogs, and wikis serve some different needs
eChalk is a great tool for providing a common look and feel across all schools' sites in the district
eChalk may not be the easiest or most intuitive application for having a two-way dialog with students or quickly and easily posting lessons, content, and supplemental materials
Consider posting links on your eChalk page to your class blog or wiki so people can find you easily

What's next?

Next week's session in Room 510. Bring some ideas of something you may want to do with a blog or wiki (or both!)
If you're comfortable getting started on your own, have at it! Add a link to your blog or wiki on this page if you'd like.
Stuck? Need help? Ask Scott Elias, Amy Tuttle, Tamara Driskill, Tony Scott...